apple dropped the ball in its look. the concave thing doesn't do it for me either. mainly its the screen that bothers me. it looks really fat and crappy. they needed to do the black outlining like they have on the imacs.

The thing isn't even available yet, and we're already bashing it? I know true Apple enthusiasts are supposed to bag on Apple if and when they mess up, but c'mon! This is too much, it's like you want it to fail...

The thing isn't even available yet, and we're already bashing it? I know true Apple enthusiasts are supposed to bag on Apple if and when they mess up, but c'mon! This is too much, it's like you want it to fail...

More like an air ball. Let's see... $1799 and slower than a $1299 MacBook but more expensive than the MacBook with 2GB RAM, no optical drive, smaller, slower HD. Only thing going for it is 3 lbs. vs 5 lbs. The solid-state drive option is simply too expensive for a mass-market machine, so this is one for the style-concious only. Perhaps there are enough of them out there, but I doubt it.

To me it looks fine but I won't overpay for a computer missing essential features such as optical drive, usb ports, firewire, ethernet... and has a slower cpu than the current Macbook. All of that to save 2lb??? I'll pass.

Hasn't everyone been screetching for this thing for two years, now? And what about Japan? Hundreds of posts here saying Apple can't sell laptops in Japan because they don't have a sub-notebook. As to the no external drive thing, that was 1: forseen. 2: overcome.

It'll sell just fine. I bet lots of folks order this WITH the new base stations.

More like an air ball. Let's see... $1799 and slower than a $1299 MacBook but more expensive than the MacBook with 2GB RAM, no optical drive, smaller, slower HD. Only thing going for it is 3 lbs. vs 5 lbs. The solid-state drive option is simply too expensive for a mass-market machine, so this is one for the style-concious only. Perhaps there are enough of them out there, but I doubt it.

Why on earth are people comparing this to a MacBook? For crying out loud!!!!!!!!! Wake up!

To me it looks fine but I won't overpay for a computer missing essential features such as optical drive, usb ports, firewire, ethernet... and has a slower cpu than the current Macbook. All of that to save 2lb??? I'll pass.

its a cool laptop but once again, apple missed the point of an ultra portable. while the weight is nice, its the width that counts. people who need a small computer to carry around are usually more concerned with the dimensions (width, depth) rather than just weight. this thing is almost the same total size as a macbook just thinner and lighter. if i am in a cramped space and want to whip something out to do a little browsing or something wont this be too big? why not just get the macbook? at least i can have ethernet if i need it and a firewire port.

the fucked up on the price point. if this had been $1100-1300 i think they would have had a winner for those of us who might have bought it just for the weight and cool factor who might not need a full fledged notebook. at $1800 ...uh uh.

Why on earth are people comparing this to a MacBook? For crying out loud!!!!!!!!! Wake up!

Ummm... Because it's the 3rd Apple laptop? It was positioned between the MacBook, and the MacBook Pro in the Keynote? What.. Now you can not compare the MacBook's features to the MacBook Pro's features to help decide which one is for you. "For crying out loud!!!!!!!!! Wake up!"

Ummm... Because it's the 3rd Apple laptop? It was positioned between the MacBook, and the MacBook Pro in the Keynote? What.. Now you can not compare the MacBook's features to the MacBook Pro's features to help decide which one is for you. "For crying out loud!!!!!!!!! Wake up!"

I'm talking about when people call it a ripoff for not "having as much stuff" as the MacBook.

As an ultra portable, this thing looks awesome. If you see the demo, you'll also notice that Apple have leveraged the software to get the most out of this thing. The remote disk feature is very smart and AFAIK, has no equivalent in the pc space.

IMO it also gives users of 'full sized' notebooks an idea of what to look forward to. I think the gestures features in the trackpad will show up on the next versions of MBP and MB.

its a cool laptop but once again, apple missed the point of an ultra portable. while the weight is nice, its the width that counts. people who need a small computer to carry around are usually more concerned with the dimensions (width, depth) rather than just weight. this thing is almost the same total size as a macbook just thinner and lighter. if i am in a cramped space and want to whip something out to do a little browsing or something wont this be too big? why not just get the macbook? at least i can have ethernet if i need it and a firewire port.

the fucked up on the price point. if this had been $1100-1300 i think they would have had a winner for those of us who might have bought it just for the weight and cool factor who might not need a full fledged notebook. at $1800 ...uh uh.

1) Go take a look at CNET's "Top 5 ultra-portable laptops".

2) Note prices, weights, and feature sets.

3) Come back here, beg forgiveness.

As has been noted, people are posting as if they have never heard of the ultra-portable category. Of course it costs more than a MacBook. Of course the specs are somewhat constrained. That's the market. People are willing to pay for size and weight reductions.

It remains to be seen if it's a market that Apple can do well in, but it's just stupid to act like Apple has made some kind of grave miscalculation because this thing isn't priced and specced like a MacBook. Nobody makes that machine.

Moreover, Apple is offering some nice amenities not available from the competition-- back lighted keyboard, "Air Disc", LED screen, and, as they note in their marketing materials, no compromise in keyboard or screen size (although the point made in an earlier post about all over size being an issue strikes me as valid, and possibly the real weakness in this design-- have to wait and see how it's received to know for sure).

dude, besides the thin aspect how is this an ultra portable. that was my point. yeah great...its thin ..and weighs 2 pounds less. but it also has the same dimensions as a macbook. with smaller drive, no optical, no firewire(no target disk) , crappier graphics, and no ethernet.